• Question: if a person is confused and doesnt know what career path he wants to follow, what should that person do?

    Asked by amina to Betul, Bridget, Ceri-Wyn, Laurel, Maria on 17 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Bridget Waller

      Bridget Waller answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      Just try and get as much information as you can about different careers, and keep your options open by aiming for good marks!

    • Photo: Ceri-Wyn Thomas

      Ceri-Wyn Thomas answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      Amina that is a very clever question and one I’ve ALWAYS asked myself. My advice would be this- pursue subjects you really enjoy- If maths and science aren’t really your thing then what about languages or humanities? There are SO many careers out there which need a diverse range of subject knowledge but most importantly a diverse range of SKILLS! Skills are what employers consider to be good IT abilities; good social skills; leadership; report writing; project managing. You may feel you don’t have all these skills yet so here’s my second piece of advice- even if you don’t know what you want to do develop some great skills to write about on your CV so that when you do find your dream job you’ll already have loads to show off about. Ways to gain skills and experience are volunteering/courses/extracurricular activities/Duke of Edinburgh Award (Universities love that btw)/ working in your parents business etc. LOADS of things. The world is your oyster- find what you love then go get it! 🙂

    • Photo: Betul Arslan

      Betul Arslan answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      That person should not rush into making a decision and begin to get to know herself. Trust me, I did this mistake. I started and ended everything in a rush! I was a doctorate student at the age of 20! Now I look back and think, what was I doing?? Clearly, it is hard to choose the occupation that you will be busy with for the rest of your life at such an early age. Therefore I would really take my time and do things that will develop my character and show me my likes/dislikes. In my observation, people who do that are more successful in life because they make a wiser decision.

    • Photo: Laurel Fogarty

      Laurel Fogarty answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      If thinking about what career you would like to follow hasn’t worked out, maybe you could try looking at it the other way round. What is your favourite subject (or subjects) in school?- once you know that you can start thinking about what kind of a career can come from those subjects- people are much more successful at careers when they are doing something they enjoy.

      English and history are both great ways into writing, researching for tv shows, being a reporter based anywhere in the world… maths is a door into engineering, biology and chemistry could lead you into medicine, developing cancer drugs, forensics. What is your favourite subject?

      It is also worth bearing in mind that the choices you make now are by no means irreversible. You can change if you go down the wrong path- I did!

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